The Royal Tutor

Episode 4

It's field trip time on The Royal Tutor, as Heine takes his inconspicuously well-dressed students out to visit the capital that, despite being right outside the palace window, can only be reached by a carriage ride through the forest. The series isn't too concerned about the coherence of its historical references, either. Marie (Antoinette) is only name-dropped to scare Leonhard into coming along, as 200 years after her unfortunate end would place us in the latter half of the 20th century. Just as käsekrainer sausages, which really weren't a thing in Vienna (or "Wiener" in a romanization joke I'm not entirely sure is intentional) before the 1970's. (Speaking of romanization, I was pleasantly surprised to see Glanzreich becoming the glamorous empire and Weissburg the white castle they were meant to be.) Given the ring road, town hall, and opera house our princes marvel at, I'd say we're somewhere between mid to late 19th century for those curious just when the heck is supposed to be.

But you're not here for a lesson in Austrian history, and neither are our fabulous boys. They're here to get their first taste of real-world challenges and wonders, while meeting the people whose happiness they might be responsible for one day. Everyone gets a little closer to at least sensing their place in the bigger picture, despite King Victor's lack of participation in his sons' upbringing. Heine apparently has a high opinion of the man who hired him, yet I can't help but wonder why someone who brought his subjects' smiles back and seems to be a very decent monarch would worry so little about his legacy until recently. It's not like royal heirs can't drop dead from assassination and all kinds of dreadful diseases unexpectedly.

Apart from his respect for Victor, Heine continues to be strangely concerned with his own not-belonging. His obvious knack for his job gives him plenty of reason to be where he is. It would be disappointing if these hints at a bigger secret were just there to tease us, but for the time being, everything feels way too funifuni and mofumofu to turn dark and serious.

Speaking of sweet and soft things, it was nice to see Licht being the one to initiate Heine's welcome party. He's the one with the most real-world experience, albeit strictly limited to his exploits as a 14-year old ladies man, a fact that only Bruno seems to find disturbing. Our book nerd continues to prove himself potentially able to survive outside the palace and serve his kingdom in ways beyond inheriting the crown, but it's probably a good thing Kai won't have to fend for his life in the outside world. I don't want to imagine people taking advantage of his kindness, or him finding out cuddles alone sometimes won't cut it.

When Leo doesn't even get to display the few talents he managed to cultivate after mustering up the courage and moral outrage to intervene in common folks' business, his likability comes from equal parts righteousness and involuntary patheticness. Of the princely quartet, he's still the most promising and least cookie-cutter.

The chibi comedy bits work well and flow naturally, with Kai's pantomime reenactment of the thief's pursuit being a particularly chuckle-inducing highlight. Backgrounds in Wiener are pleasant but static, with unmoving clouds and rarely moving background characters. The crowds disappear entirely as we enter the shopping part of town, along with much of the atmospheric background noise. The bookstore suffered from the same amount of copy & paste spines as Bruno's library, but none of these shortcomings are severe enough to really break immersion.

While The Royal Tutor isn't breaking any ground, it continues to provide a pleasant and entertaining time. And that's perfectly fine.

Rating: B-

The Royal Tutor is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Anne is a translator and fiction addict who writes about anime at Floating Words and on Twitter.